S. China downpours cause casualties, economic losses

Photo taken on June 3, 2014 shows a general view of a waterlogged road in Pingba County of Anshun city, southwest China's Guizhou province, June 3, 2014. Heavy rain has battered most areas of Guizhou since Monday. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)

GUIYANG, June 4 (Xinhua) -- A new round of rainstorms has been wrecking havoc in south China, causing casualties and economic losses.

As of 8 a.m. on Wednesday, four people had been killed and two remain missing in Shiqian County under Tongren City in southwest China's Guizhou Province, according to the provincial flood control headquarters.

The average precipitation in the county was 261 mm from 8 a.m. on Tuesday to 8 a.m. on Wednesday. More than 3,300 hectares of crops and 318 houses in the county has been damaged by the downpours.

About 208,000 people in the province's 14 cities and counties have been affected by rainstorms as of 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

In southwest China's Sichuan Province, a 70-year-old villager in Tongjiang County, Bazhong City, died after being hit and injured by mountain torrents on Monday evening, said the provincial flood control authorities.

Another villager in Xuyong County of Sichuan's Luzhou City was buried by a rain-triggered landslide on Wednesday morning, and rescuers are racing to save her.

The publicity department of Jiang'an County of Yibin City in Sichuan said on Wednesday that heavy rain has affected more than 22,000 people in 12 townships.

Downpours also hit Fengshan County in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Tuesday evening. Many roads were cut off and local schools were forced to close by floods, according to the county's publicity department.

At least 37 people died and six others were left missing after the previous round of downpours hit provinces in south China in May, according to the China National Commission for Disaster Reduction.